A sacked waiter from a Maidenhead tandoori was arr

A sacked waiter from a Maidenhead tandoori was arrested in London
with a car-load of champagne and wine that had been stolen from the
restaurant, a court heard on Friday.

He told police that the ten bottles of champagne, dozens of bottles
of wine, After Eight mints and a bag of Bombay mix munchies had been
bought at Sainsbury in Whitechapel, Southwark Crown Court was told.

Kamal Uddin, 23, admitted handling stolen goods but no
evidence was offered to the court as to the identity of the
Cookham tandoori burglar.

Earls Court police stopped Uddin, who was in a car with
three friends, on Jan 22 this year and saw that it was laden
with top class champagne.

Prosecuting, Mrs Peta Gee, told the court: ‘When the police
stopped the car the defendants started speaking amongst themselves
in a foreign language and one of them said that they had bought
the alcohol from Sainsbury’s in Whitechapel.

‘
Price labels on the bottles led police to a retailer in
Maidenhead and the ‘Cookham Tandoori’ restaurant in Cookham
High Street.

And the manager of the restaurant told police that there had
been a burglary on the night that the defendants were arrested, it
was said.

Mrs Gee also said that Kamal Uddin had been sacked from the
restaurant only a week before.

Assistant Recorder Geoffrey Breen said of all the defendants
that they must have been ‘very close’ to the person who burgled the
restaurant.

Uddin, of Drayton Park, Highbury, was sentenced to 120
hours community service along with Ekhimur Raja, 30, of Duckett
Street, Stepney, and Khivul Islam, 23, of Cannon Street
Road, Stepney.

Raja and Islam also admitted the handling charge.

A friend of the three, Imam Uddin,32, of Commercial Road, Stepney,
denied handling but was found guilty.

His sentence has been adjourned
for a community service assessment until October 16.

All the defendants were born in Bangladesh.

Mr Breen eyed the stash of top grade champagne on the
exhibits bench, smiled at the jury, and quipped: ‘It must
be a very good restaurant.

I shall take a note of its name.

‘
ENDS